# Nail polish related disasters: What's your worst



## Christa W (May 8, 2014)

I just spilled a lot of acetone all over my desk and some even splashed up on the 22" TV that was sitting behind it.  It ate all the plastic on the frame of the TV and the base.  It's not my TV.  It belongs to my mom who lives with me sometimes.  She's been gone for about a year and won't be back until next fall so I thought I would bring it in my office to play video games on.  Now I ruined something that isn't mine.  I guess I just bought her a new one!  What's your worst nail polish or polish related item distaster???


----------



## monkeyx3 (May 8, 2014)

I was taking over the nail polish in my car with the acetone. I accidently laid it on the deck of the shift gear thing, and it ate the paint or whatever u call it off....like completely off so now i have this black big mark on it &gt;.&lt;  lesson learn: don't use acetone in the car.


----------



## Monika1 (May 12, 2014)

Aargh! A recent frustration: I typed text in here and accidentally started a search from this page rather than switching to my intended tab. So I deleted everything I wrote. Oh well.

Mine aren't quite as bad, but they were educational. 1) In my early teens I got polish on a piece of clothing. To remove it, I put the item on the toilet seat lid and used acetone. It worked and the clothes were fine, but the lid was trashed as it melted the plastic! At least a toilet seat lid is cheaper than a TV. It wasn't that bad, but I certainly did not repeat that! And of course some clothing would also have been melted by acetone - word to the wise. 2) Recently coming back from a trip I had my polish in my checked luggage (obviously you can't have it elsewhere), and it was well wrapped, but when I returned and opened it, the pressure difference caused the liquid to burst out of the bottle all over the counter and into the outside part of the lid. I lost about a third of my remaining Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat, so that was sad. I really like it, and of course go through top coat fairly fast. I should have fractionally opened it and let it sit for a while. Ah, and maybe not a disaster either, but 3) I gave away a bunch of polish several years ago. I felt I didn't 'need' it. True enough.  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

A potential polish disaster for some (without the tolerant partner, space or budget for it) is the desire to have !!! all the new polishes !!! If you estimate that you have 20 applications per bottle, and apply polish twice a week, 200 bottles would last you 40 years! Sure, for most of us it isn't about using it all up, but it's interesting to consider. We need nail polish heirs! I'm being a bit critical about how many pinks/reds/etc. I have that are close to those in new collections, but there are a lot of gorgeous new colours out there, and I'm always looking for great nail art polish!


----------



## CaseyR (May 12, 2014)

Where do I start... lol Perhaps one of the worst was Halloween 2012 when I was hosting a party at my place.  For my costume I was trying to attach these long false French nails in a rush, and knocked the bottle of glue over on the washroom counter.  Normally, this wouldn't have been *that* bad,  but this stuff was something |I got off eBay, and it was literally like water.  It crystallized all over the counter, and it took FOREVER to scrap off.

Another incident was when I was on a roadtrip and got bored in the car while waiting for a couple friends in the coffee shop.  I figured I'd do my nails while waiting.  Anyway, when one of them returned, I had to reach in the back seat, and inadvertently scraped the ceiling with my thumbnail; red polish was all across my car's ceiling lol  I then panicked a bit, and tried to scrub it off with nail polish remover and it got worse.  One of my friends called someone he knew at an auto-detailing shop, and asked if they knew how to get nail polish out of a car ceiling; they basically broke out laughing..  Eventually, I did get it out, but it's a little embarrassing to admit that a similar event happened later that year.. Just my luck! lol    

One thing I've learned some thee stories; bad things happen when I rush hah


----------



## kawaiisofoxy (May 12, 2014)

I set my brand new bottle of OPI Liquid Sand polish up on my mantle and then managed to knock it to the stone hearth below. Of course, it shattered, and got polish on 1) the stone hearth, 2) the carpet, and 3) the wall - both baseboard AND regular wall. I used polish remover to get what I could, but the stone was porous, so there's still purple glitter lodged in there. I ended up having to wait for the polish to dry and cut it out of the carpet. And I course the acetone took off the wall paint so the poor wall still has scars, and will until I get around to painting it.

The best part? This happened mere months after buying our house. There went that brand-new house feeling! Oops!


----------



## Christa W (May 12, 2014)

Great stories!  Keep them coming.  Help me to realize I am not the only one out there.  I did just learn from a conversation with Girly Bits on FB that apparently if you spill polish on hard surfaces you can put sugar on it and it's supposed to absorb it so it can be swept up if it's done fast enough.  I asked her if it worked for carpets.  I am not trying to dump any of my polish on the floor to try but I may start stashing little containers of sugar in my office.  I got a few large drops of Rainbow Honey's Cameo 18 which of course is the brightest neon pink I own, on my loft carpet two weeks ago.  I just told my boyfriend it adds character to the space.


----------



## NotTheMama (May 13, 2014)

I used to keep my polish in cardboard envelope boxes and I had 2 of them stacked on top of each other on the couch next to me and one FULL box fell off the couch. Not only did it make a hell of a racket when it landed on the hardwood floor, but one of the bottles broke and I had teal glitter all over the floor.

Lucky for me it was a pretty sheer color so I quickly wiped it up with little damage to the floor. Some of the glitter pieces were stubborn, though, and were left on the floor until they eventually just wore off.

We are moving in about a month to a house that's fully carpeted. My hubby pointed out that I should be extra careful, but I think he forgets that before I moved on with him, I lived in a fully carpeted house!! And I have a much better storage system now.


----------



## Christa W (May 16, 2014)

I need to preface my latest polish disaster with some background.  I have a cat named Link that's what I like to call a "special needs" cat.  Nothing physical just all behavioral/mental.

Last night I had arranged polish on my two new wooden spice racks to see how much could fit.  I put all China Glaze on one seeing if it could all fit.  Today he walked up to the rack which is propped up on the floor against the wall until I can paint then mount it and he lifted his leg and urinated all over my bottom row of polishes.  I saw it happen and stopped him before he could do anymore damage.  If he would have chose the other rack just a mere 3" to his left he would have doused my entire Hit Polish collection (all paper labels).  Thankfully I was able to clean it all up and rinse the bottles. 

It gets worse... the rack next to it just tipped over on me when I was over checking on the bottles and one of my Sally Hansen polished just burst all over me and my floor and all the polishes on that rack.


----------



## kaitlin1209 (May 19, 2014)

I did my nails when my parents were on vacation when I was younger...at the living room coffee table. My grandma was there house-sitting with me and my younger sister, I think I was probably 13 or 14. Anyway my mom had acrylic nails at that time and bought the big bottles of pure acetone to help her remove them. I soaked a few cotton balls in acetone and set them RIGHT ON the coffee table, which ate a good size hole of the varnish/top coat of the table.  I think I bawled every day until they came back-- surprisingly, they weren't as upset with me as I thought they would be.


----------



## Monika1 (May 22, 2014)

Christa W said:


> I need to preface my latest polish disaster with some background.  I have a cat named Link that's what I like to call a "special needs" cat.  Nothing physical just all behavioral/mental.
> 
> Last night I had arranged polish on my two new wooden spice racks to see how much could fit.  I put all China Glaze on one seeing if it could all fit.  Today he walked up to the rack which is propped up on the floor against the wall until I can paint then mount it and he lifted his leg and urinated all over my bottom row of polishes.  I saw it happen and stopped him before he could do anymore damage.  If he would have chose the other rack just a mere 3" to his left he would have doused my entire Hit Polish collection (all paper labels).  Thankfully I was able to clean it all up and rinse the bottles.
> 
> It gets worse... the rack next to it just tipped over on me when I was over checking on the bottles and one of my Sally Hansen polished just burst all over me and my floor and all the polishes on that rack.


Now we know! When you get to that point - screw them into the studs in the wall to keep them from ever tipping. And maybe a clear plastic cover to protect them from future cat issues?


----------



## Christa W (May 22, 2014)

Monika1 said:


> Now we know! When you get to that point - screw them into the studs in the wall to keep them from ever tipping. And maybe a clear plastic cover to protect them from future cat issues?


It's my fault I stuck him in my office with no litter box while I was working and I should NEVER had filled them with polish while they were just propped up there anyway.  They were literally just sitting on the floor full o' polish leaning up against the closet door.  Shame on me.  I am lucky only one bottle broke and my amazing boyfriend ran out and replaced it that night.


----------



## Monika1 (May 22, 2014)

Christa W said:


> It's my fault I stuck him in my office with no litter box while I was working and I should NEVER had filled them with polish while they were just propped up there anyway.  They were literally just sitting on the floor full o' polish leaning up against the closet door.  Shame on me.  I am lucky only one bottle broke and my amazing boyfriend ran out and replaced it that night.


Wow! He really is amazing! My SO would just be upset with the mess and shake his head at the whole thing. He's pretty ambivalent about the polish thing...


----------



## meaganola (May 25, 2014)

The part that gets me is that HE LIFTED HIS LEG. I have never seen a kitty do that!


----------



## Christa W (May 25, 2014)

meaganola said:


> The part that gets me is that HE LIFTED HIS LEG. I have never seen a kitty do that!


LOL right???  Fortunately for me he did that and actually hit the caps mostly so they were easier to clean and the paper labels on the bottom didn't get soaked.  Also thankfully he did it at the beginning of my lunch and I saw it so I could immediately clean it up.  He belonged to my best friend that passed away a few years ago so I can't really ask him again what happened when he took the cat to get him neutered.  I think the place didn't do it right.  Either he really hates China Glaze or he was marking them as his own???  It's so weird when he goes in the litter box he won't touch the litter he props his legs up on the sides and does like a balancing act.  I am making an appointment with a vet to have him checked out.  Among other things he is a compulsive groomer and it nearly bald on his legs and belly.  He's got anxiety issues big time.


----------



## Christa W (May 25, 2014)

Monika1 said:


> Wow! He really is amazing! My SO would just be upset with the mess and shake his head at the whole thing. He's pretty ambivalent about the polish thing...


Yep he is!!  Lucky for us the carpets in our house were in pretty bad shape when we moved in.  He's proud of my collection and tells all his female coworkers about my polish stash!


----------



## Esthylove (May 25, 2014)

monkeyx3 said:


> I was taking over the nail polish in my car with the acetone. I accidently laid it on the deck of the shift gear thing, and it ate the paint or whatever u call it off....like completely off so now i have this black big mark on it &gt;.&lt;  lesson learn: don't use acetone in the car.


Or on your coffee table. I had to fill it in with sharpie because it took the stain off the wood. Good thing we've been wanting to get a new one! And just doing your nails, putting rubber gloves on to do your toes and have the acetone go through the rubber glove and mess up your nails-- my husband leaves this little detail out and tells me after that the acetone will go through the glove. Well thank you! &lt;_&lt;

Oh and one time, I'm guessing I was around 13 or so. And I had a desk in my room so I was sitting in my chair leaning back and painting my toes when I knocked the bottle of PURPLE polish all over the carpet. I start freaking out and running around in circles while walking with one foot on the heel, trying to figure out how to clean it. I'm pretty sure I had a 10 minute freak out, then went down stairs and told my mom she was gonna kill me. She went up stairs and saw the damage and asked me what I was thinking.. WELLLLL it sounded like a good idea in the first place. Luckily I have understanding parents. (don't even get me started on my sister juggling mustard like she was in the circus). LOL


----------



## Kristine Walker (May 25, 2014)

Thinking that your nails are dry, going to bed and waking up with sheets stuck to nails. That's why I started using Sally Hansen quick dry clear as my top coat.


----------



## Karly65 (May 29, 2014)

I knocked over a bottle of Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Mint Sprint into my tan bath tub. I had a nice big smear because instead of dabbing to get it all up, I wiped instead.

My coworker suggested using Turtle Wax poilshing compound (not the gritty stuff, the white stuff). It worked wonderfully, but I had a nice clean shiny spot. So I ended up turtle waxing the whole tub. It looked rather nice afterwards.


----------



## emilylithium (May 29, 2014)

I have a box of mostly julep polish, and it fell off my desk onto the carpet. Fortunately, only one bottle broke, but it is a favorite blue color of mine. It left a huge stain on the carpet. I hope they won't notice it when i move out this month.


----------



## princessbella (May 30, 2014)

spilt a whole bottle on the floor of a villa on holiday and the room stunk of remover for days


----------



## Megan1016 (May 31, 2014)

I had a bottle of nail polish in my coat pocket, and I forgot about it.

One day my mom is sniffing around saying she smells nail polish, and what do ya know. Winter coat ruined,


----------



## Christa W (May 31, 2014)

Megan1016 said:


> I had a bottle of nail polish in my coat pocket, and I forgot about it.
> 
> One day my mom is sniffing around saying she smells nail polish, and what do ya know. Winter coat ruined,


OMG that's terrible!!


----------



## amorgb (Jun 6, 2014)

Whelp just spilled about half a bottle of deeeeep red nail polish on my comforter...

Hopefully at least some of it will come out (trying all sorts of removal methods right now), its not a huge deal if not all of it comes out because there are various other small stains (sounds gross sorry) stains on it anyway and I'll be needing a new one this summer before I go to college anyway.  But still, I feel quite dumb right now


----------



## Ryan Chamberlain (Jul 29, 2014)

This is my own fault. But, I just lost a polish and don't know where it is because I threw it out of a fit of rage. It was one of those Insta Dri's with the way too big brush. I don't know if it's broken. But, I don't care if it is. I hate those brushes. And, the color was plain black anyways (I have another one with a thin brush.)


----------



## Shalott (Jul 29, 2014)

There have been a number of times when my kids as young ones got a hold of a polish and proceeded to make artistic masterpieces on the walls and furniture. &lt;_&lt; You'd think I would keep the stuff under lock and key with the frequency it happened. Le sigh, at least they are (hopefully) grown past that stage now.


----------



## Elena K (Jul 29, 2014)

Couple of weeks ago I was taking of the nail polish, and unwisely placed used cotton balls soaked with polish remover one window sill, which happens to be one cats' favorite vantage points. Cats never come anywhere near me while I'm doing my nails or right after. I figure they hate the smell of fresh polish. No sooner that I finished repainting my nails, I realized that one of the cats came to claim his spot and is laying directly on top of the used cotton balls. My first reaction was to grab the cat and wash off whatever the polish remover his fir picked up... but I couldn't do that without getting at least some of my nail polish on him... So I just stood the looking at the cat and slightly whimpering... Luckily my husband was home, he washed the cat.


----------



## Christa W (Jul 29, 2014)

Elena K said:


> Couple of weeks ago I was taking of the nail polish, and unwisely placed used cotton balls soaked with polish remover one window sill, which happens to be one cats' favorite vantage points. Cats never come anywhere near me while I'm doing my nails or right after. I figure they hate the smell of fresh polish. No sooner that I finished repainting my nails, I realized that one of the cats came to claim his spot and is laying directly on top of the used cotton balls. My first reaction was to grab the cat and wash off whatever the polish remover his fir picked up... but I couldn't do that without getting at least some of my nail polish on him... So I just stood the looking at the cat and slightly whimpering... Luckily my husband was home, he washed the cat.


We just rescued a cat a few months ago and he likes to dig in the trash.  My biggest fear is him going through and eating one of my used cotton balls.


----------



## kawaiisofoxy (Jul 29, 2014)

My adorable, yet idiotic dog has already been caught chewing a cotton square soaked in nail polish remover.  He didn't swallow any, and I observed him for the next few hours and he was fine (he may have lost some of the few brain cells he has left, but....).  He will eat ANYTHING.  Case in point, I clipped some matted fur off him tonight, and set it aside while I combed my fingers through, checking for other mats.  I turned back to throw the clippings away, and.... GONE.  Dummy had eaten his own fur!  It's a good thing he's so cute.   :laughno:


----------



## Christa W (Jul 29, 2014)

magicalmom said:


> My adorable, yet idiotic dog has already been caught chewing a cotton square soaked in nail polish remover. He didn't swallow any, and I observed him for the next few hours and he was fine (he may have lost some of the few brain cells he has left, but....). He will eat ANYTHING. Case in point, I clipped some matted fur off him tonight, and set it aside while I combed my fingers through, checking for other mats. I turned back to throw the clippings away, and.... GONE. Dummy had eaten his own fur! It's a good thing he's so cute. :laughno:


Sergei has an obsession with chewing on my tape gun... I don't get it!!!


----------



## Elena K (Jul 30, 2014)

Christa W said:


> We just rescued a cat a few months ago and he likes to dig in the trash.  My biggest fear is him going through and eating one of my used cotton balls.


I hear you. I get pretty paranoid about cats and potentially dangerous substances (like cleaning supplier and such). But truth is, cats have very keen sense of smell and usually dangerous stuff does not smell appealing to them,

On a different note, one of my cats (the one involved in the incident) is rescued cats as well. And at first he was digging through the trash looking for something to eat, but after a while he realized that he is going to be feed anyway or just got lazy, and stopped. It took him couple of years though...


----------



## pokeballssohard (Aug 11, 2014)

Anytime I try to put nail polish on it's a disaster.  :laughing:

But seriously though, I am so polish challenged. I can never get it to apply evenly in the first place, and I'm also a habitual nail biter so that doesn't help. Plus, I'm an art student so it doesn't have a hope of staying on through my studio classes.

I don't think I'm cosmically destined to ever have cute nails. -sigh-


----------



## VickyTaft (Aug 12, 2014)

Two stories:

I discovered that nail polish remover, or at least the stuff in the 90's, will eat through carpet. My brand new carpet. A large hole in like the middle of the room. Thank god for leftover bits of carpet, I made a patch and my mother never knew what had happened.

Second story is again as a teen I received a bottle of nail polish in my stocking at Christmas time. Took it into the bathroom and as I lifted it up to put it away the WHOLE bottom of the bottle fell off and dumped all that nail polish all over the sink, counter, and my arm. Thank goodness it was a pearly white so it didn't completely ruin the sink but man, that sucked.


----------



## Monika1 (Aug 12, 2014)

pokeballssohard said:


> Anytime I try to put nail polish on it's a disaster.  :laughing:
> 
> But seriously though, I am so polish challenged. I can never get it to apply evenly in the first place, and I'm also a habitual nail biter so that doesn't help. Plus, I'm an art student so it doesn't have a hope of staying on through my studio classes.
> 
> I don't think I'm cosmically destined to ever have cute nails. -sigh-


Aaw, that sounds a bit fatalistic.  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I think it takes everyone many tries to eventually get coordinated enough that we're sometimes happy with our application and might actually not need to do any clean-up. Bear in mind 1) many polishes look a mess on their first coat and you might need up to four thin coats of polish to get something to look smooth and even; 2) sometimes the last (second or third) coat of polish will instead be better applied a bit thicker than the first/second coat(s) to achieve an even look, because polishes vary, and you might need to experiment on one nail first to find what works; 3) thinner is a key tool in your stash, as many polishes start out too thick to apply evenly (and thinner is different from acetone/remover, which can eventually break down your polish); 4) waiting for polish to dry between coats will help to prevent making a mess of the previous coat with the brush while trying to apply the next coat; 5) a quick-dry top coat is a jewel in the application process - a thick coat of it will make even glossy beauty out of an uneven polish application, and the fast drying top coats usually protect the mani fairly well from dents and smudging due to gentle use of the hands sooner than without; also, for you, that top coat enables you to wash art supplies off your hands and even use acetone on your nails without removing your under-layers of polish; 6) many of us are not as coordinated as it seems - we use a little brush with acetone on it to clean up the little messes at the cuticle edge, or on the fingers  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> (I wipe the brush on a tissue) 7) glitter toppers and nail art are great covers for a less-than-ideal application. 8) Polished nails (especially when you invest your time and effort into doing them) are a great deterrent for nail-biting.

If the idea of doing your own nails intrigues you, and a good mani appeals to you, keep trying and you will get better at it!


----------



## ssunnysideup (Nov 6, 2014)

When I first visited and met by parents in law I was terribly nervous. My boyfriend still had his room there so I took a couple of things with me to sleep over there. So then a whole lot of his family came to see his new girlfriend. His mother asked me to paint her nails because she was amazed by mine. I have to say that their house is cleaner than clean. I ran down the stairs and fell over my own feet and five polish bottles broke and all the polish was spilt over the floor and the walls whick looked somehow amazing for me but somehow not for them. The color just didn't want to go off, even with pure aceton. They had to repaint a wall and are now thinking about making a new floor too because yes, still ( 3 years later) the color doesn't go off.


----------



## GlitterGoth (Nov 13, 2014)

http://www.nailsxo.com/2014/04/10/jess-nail-polish-swatches/

Not really a disaster, but something I wish I'd seen sooner after spending £11 on Nails Inc Baker Street, because All That Jazz looks like what I thought BS would, (though I think a white base coat might do the trick, I hope so anyway.) BS is duller even that Barry M Blue grape. Damn QVC for making it look really bright! 

I had one nail polish break on me, and it was a lovely deep red shade by Collection 2000, but I replaced it soon after. It was in a box with the rest of my collection, (how small that was only five years ago!) and I think the box fell on the floor, I can't remember now.


----------

